Engineering Dean Gibbons honored by semiconductor industry

STANFORD -- James Gibbons, dean of the Stanford School of Engineering, was presented with the second annual University Research Award of the Semiconductor Industry Association at its annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 26.

The association cited Gibbons for training students who have played a major role in the industry, for his role in establishing new companies that have an impact on the industry and for his own research.

The award was presented at a dinner at the Smithsonian American History Museum. Secretary of Defense William Perry, who is also a Stanford professor of engineering, was the keynote speaker. The association also gave its Technology Leadership Award to Vice President Al Gore.

The committee that nominated Gibbons noted that he had directly trained dozens of students who have had considerable impact on the industry, and thousands more indirectly through his textbook on semiconductor electronics. They noted also that "Dr. Gibbons, more than anyone else, played a key role in achieving the fundamental understanding of ion implantation that led to its universal application in device fabrication." More recently, he also has been active in the founding of Silicon Valley companies that commercialized his research results.

Gibbons, who has been at Stanford for 39 years, announced last year that he will step down as dean of the highly regarded engineering school in May. He will assume the title of counsel to the president for industry relations, a position devoted to improving relations between Stanford and industry.

The Semiconductor Industry Association decided last year to create an award to honor university researchers who have played a key role in developing the industry. The previous recipient of the award was Don Pederson, professor emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley, who developed computer-aided design as a tool for creating complex integrated circuits.

The association represents the nation's semiconductor companies, which use the association as a voice on government-related issues such as regulation of trade and intellectual property rights. In 1982, the association expanded its role by creating the Semiconductor Research Corp. to fund research related to the semiconductor industry in U.S. universities. The council's budget last year was $35 million.

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